


Don't Stay Away for too Long

by Amsterdam



Category: Spider-Man (Movies - Raimi), Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Amazing Spider-Man (Movies - Webb)
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, Everyone Is Gay, Frenemies, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-09
Updated: 2020-09-01
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:22:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25801288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amsterdam/pseuds/Amsterdam
Summary: Peter is spider-man, while Harry is none other than the Green Goblin. Both boys live together and are close friends while being enemies at the same time. What could go wrong?Current WIP, most likely 5 or 6 chapters, updating every so often
Relationships: Gwen Stacy/Mary Jane Watson, Harry Osborn/Peter Parker
Comments: 1
Kudos: 34





	1. Starting Point

**Author's Note:**

> This doesn't have an exact movie/universe setting. It was started back in 2015 when the amazing spider-man 2 came out. Every one is mid-20s in this fic.

Spiderman, New York City’s biggest hero. Peter Parker, a nobody in New York City. Peter enjoyed being a nobody. He loved his simple life living with his best friend, Harry Osborn. They lived together in a two-bedroom loft apartment. Of course, Peter could not afford this, but Harry’s dad liked them both enough to pay for it. Peter liked having his own money though, so selling pictures of Spiderman was his main job. He actually tried a fry cooking job, but after burning half of the meals three days in a row they fired him. It was alright just being a full-time superhero. Peter keeps it a secret though, no one knows it’s him and he wants it to stay that way. He doesn’t want his friends to treat him differently or have to worry about his safety all the time. It was hard having to sneak in and out all the time to make sure Harry doesn’t notice him. Sneaking in wasn’t all that hard, but trying to cover up his bruises and cuts were really hard. Harry never said anything about them, but Peter knew he must notice at times.

Peter was always trying to create gadgets to help him stay safe in battle. He went to his dad’s old workshop in the abandoned train stop a lot. Ever since Peter got bit by the spider and learned about his dad’s past he has spent a lot of time here. It always made him feel better than his dad probably also spent his time here when he needed to be alone. That was like a second home to him basically, or a third home since he tends to spend a lot of time at Aunt May’s as well. Whenever he needed a nice meal that was his go-to place. Peter had the training room fixed up quite nicely. He had a couch he would sometimes sleep on, a mini-fridge he would keep energy drinks in, and tons of Christmas lights he bought after Christmas on sale. It was nice going to different places here and there. As much as he liked Harry, sometimes it was nice to get away. Harry tends to leave a lot as well though, Peter assumes at least. When Peter isn’t there he isn't too sure what Harry’s doing. He always thinks Harry is out partying or something stupid like that. Peter considered himself smarter than Harry most of the time. Although Harry did manage quite well and is sometimes an actual competition. Playing video games together was the real war of the worlds. 

Harry’s father owns a large, very famous company called Oscorp. Having a father who is one of the richest men in the United States really gets you high on the popularity list. Harry’s been featured on magazine covers and as the young face of Oscorp since his dad is too old for that. Harry knows his father will hand the company down to him once he dies. Harry isn’t all that ready for that much responsibility though. He also isn’t the biggest fan of his father. They get along for the most part but in the weirdest of ways. His father promised him power if he could experiment on Harry, and Harry was okay with that trade… at the time at least. Four years later and Harry regretted it. It made him a beast but at the same time, he did still enjoy it. The power to have people bend to his every whim, it made him feel like a god. Harry felt the need to go out and attack things. Sometimes though he would get hurt himself, he didn’t even care. Anytime he got hurt he felt stronger. The pain made him who he is. The transformation was controlled and never appeared not on command. There have been times however where Harry thought the time was right and it was not.

When he was home and knew Peter was there as well he had to know where Peter was at all times. Peter couldn’t get lost in their apartment, but Harry just had to keep an eye out for him. When Peter is cooking or watching TV Harry is always lingering around. Sometimes he’d try and help cook something but was even worse than Peter at it. Peter did leave pretty often though. Harry figured he went to take pictures of Spiderman or hang out with Gwen and or Mary Jane. Harry never understands his relationship with those two. They were always close to each other, but Harry being the possessive person that he is, wants Peter all to himself. A few times he was tempted to follow Peter out but didn't want to seem like a stalker. He had to just let Peter go out and do whatever he pleased. Without Harry. 

Spiderman flew through the streets heading to where he can sense danger. He sees the infamous grunt men of the Green Goblin. They were coming out of a jewelry store with bags of diamonds, silver, and gold. Peter shot two of the men’s legs and they were stuck in place.

Peter landed in front of them. “Where’s your leader? He’s fun to talk to,” he laughed at them. These guys were too easy for Peter. The Green Goblin loved the banter which delayed them for too long and the cops would come. Of course, Peter had to put up a small fight as well. The last battle was just like this, Peter figured out how to win too fast.

A bomb went off next to Peter, dodging it slightly still feeling the heat from the blast. He heard the laugh of his enemy. “Oh, good to know you love talking to me Spiderman,” the Green Goblin giggled from his hoverboard. 

“I wouldn’t say I _love_ it, but it’s okay,” Peter said as he shot more web at the grunt men so they couldn’t getaway. He noticed screams coming from inside the building. Peter bit his lips and started heading towards the door.

The Green Goblin noticed where Spiderman was heading and tossed a bomb towards the door, ignoring the fact he had men stuck there. Spiderman backed away before the bomb hit. He couldn't believe Green Goblin’s ignorance of his own people. Just hurting them like that when they are already doing all his biddings. “Spiderman, I can’t have you save them just yet,” the goblin told him. “I want you to stay out here, with me.” The Green Goblin smirks deviously and shoots himself at Spiderman. 

Peter didn’t even hear what he said, he was too busy thinking of a plan. He could sense the cops were still three blocks away, and there probably wasn't enough of them. As the Green Goblin shot towards him, he shot out one of his razor bats which hit the back of Peter’s forearm. Peter landed on the ground so he could grip his arm to make sure the bleeding wasn’t too bad. He gritted his teeth at the pain, but he would have to ignore it for now since the Green Goblin still had tricks up his sleeve. Peter had to get him back, he wasn’t going to leave the battle the only one hurt. 

The Green Goblin threw down one of his grenades at Peter. Peter shot up past it and it missed him. He was on edge now, his adrenaline makes him focused as can be. As he was passing the hoverboard he shot it with his other web to hit one of the grenades connected to it. It blew up and the Green Goblin let out a yell. “Using my own weapons against me? Smart Spiderman.” They could hear the sirens clear now as the cops started to pull up to the scene. “That’s my cue to go. See you around Spiderman,” Green Goblin called out as he left over the tall buildings. Peter frowned and watched as the cops collected the men. They waved up to Peter as thanks and he waved back. As Spiderman, Peter never wanted anything from anyone. He did what he did on his own time, their thanks were all he needed. It made him feel good knowing the people he saved and their families felt good. 

He felt his arm clench with pain and he gripped it again. It was damp and the red suit was a darker red. Peter left for his apartment sneaking through his open window. He stripped off his suit and wrapped an old shirt around his arm. Peter opened up his door and called out to Harry to see if he was home. There was no response, so Peter rushed to the bathroom. The wound wasn’t deep but it was a long cut. That would make it all the harder to hide from Harry. Looks like Peter was going to wear long sleeves for the next couple of weeks, hoping it doesn’t scar. There were plenty of scars on the rest of his body because of battles like this. The Green Goblin seemed to never go for the killing blow like a lot of other guys Peter has had to fight. Peter put on a nice long sleeve shirt, but his arm hurt badly when he moved it up. It was probably going to hurt for the rest of the day. He did have planned to go work at the train station but knew that he should rest instead. 

Harry arrived at his father’s main building. He entered through his normal door into what he calls his cool-down room. There wasn’t much to the room except a couch and table. Harry laid down on the couch and closed his eyes. The walls and floor were pure white with bright lights, forcing Harry to close his eyes. Having them closed helped him relax and cool down. He could feel the burn from the grenade that hit his legs. Once he gets out of this state he’ll have to fix it up. His wounds were always so bad because he couldn’t treat them until he was completely out of his goblin state. Harry could feel his body turn back into his human form as he relaxed. Today it was faster than normal, sometimes it would take up to two hours. As his heart rate went down the lights and room got dimmer. Harry got up from the couch and his legs ached in pain from the burns. Luckily his pants he had on weren’t that long so they don’t rub against the burns. As soon as the door was opened to the outside of his room a nurse ran up and assisted him. 

Once Harry was fixed up he headed off to his father’s office. “Ah, how is my favorite son?” He greeted Harry as he came through the door.

“I know I’m not your favorite son,” Harry said back, taking a seat in front of the desk. 

“You’re in the top two at least.” Harry rolled his eyes. He hated being second to Peter. It was one thing if it was like a sport or something, but this is Harry’s own father, his flesh and blood. That didn’t seem to matter to his dad though. There were plenty of underlying reasons why Harry agreed to become the monster he is, this was one of them. Although, like most of these things it didn’t work out in Harry’s favor. It never did. 

“The job didn’t go to plan,” his father brought up.

“It was because of Spiderman. It’s always because of Spiderman.”

“We should take him out,” his father smirked.

“No!” Harry said too fast and too loud. His father gave him a questioning look. “He’s not as big of a threat as you think he is,” Harry tried to explain. “He talks bigger than he really is. I hurt him way more than he hurts me during battle.”

“He delays you too much Harry.”

Harry frowned and looked down, he knew that was true. There was something about Spiderman though, something that felt different. Harry actually never wants to seriously hurt him, though toying with him was still high on his list of things to do. He also never wished for Spiderman to be dead, even though he gets in the way a lot. Harry doesn’t care about a lot of people or doesn't wish death upon them, but for some odd reason, Spiderman didn’t make that list. Although, he probably should have since they are enemies. Maybe all the things Peter tells him about Spiderman is getting to him.

“Next mission you can not fail,” his father spoke again. 

Harry nodded, “I won’t.” Even though he didn’t want Spiderman to get badly hurt, he didn’t want him to win. He has won two times in a row now. Harry won’t let him get a third one. 

“Don't come back until you succeed,” his father told him one last time. Harry didn't respond but just left not wanting to deal with his father anymore. He expected too much from Harry, but Harry felt he could do it. That's what keeps him motivated, to prove his father wrong. 

Harry had a wardrobe at his father’s building where he could change his clothes. He had bandages on his legs to keep his clothes from rubbing on the burns. Harry put on long socks and loose sweatpants and headed back home. He walked in through the front door and noticed Peter watching TV in the living room. “Hey,” Harry said, sitting down next to Peter.

“Hey,” Peter responded, adjusting his arm. “How was your day?”

“I spent some time over at my dad’s. I wouldn’t say it was good, but you know,” Harry told him.

“Yeah, my day wasn’t that exciting either. I went out to see if I could spot Spiderman during that robbery but I missed him,” Peter made up. It was true enough in his book.

“Don’t do that, you might end up getting hurt,” Harry suggested. The last thing he wanted was to hurt Peter. That was his best friend, and well, the only friend. If he was to ever hurt him he could probably never forgive himself.

“Don’t worry I’m smarter than that,” Peter laughed.

“Well, I'm sure Spiderman would save you. I bet that's a dream of yours,” Harry laughed as well.

Peter looked down in embarrassment. “It's not a dream of mine.” Peter was good at acting like he idolized Spiderman.

“Bullshit,” Harry said as he rested his head on Peter’s arm. Peter’s eyes grew wide and he bit his lips to hide the pain that just ran through his body. Sometimes he hated how Harry also had to be as close as he could be to Peter. Harry was lucky enough Peter let him touch him in general. Peter hated physical interaction, it never seemed right to him. After a couple of minutes, Peter got used to the pressure on his arm. 

Peter flipped through the channels looking for something good to watch. He and Harry had different taste in TV shows. The game show channel was also a safe bet, there was nothing they loved more than competing against each other. Once Harry got into it he lifted his head up off Peter’s arm. Peter rubbed it a bit to make it feel better. After five or so shows they headed off to their different rooms. 

Peter woke up the next morning and headed off to the kitchen. He poured some fruit and yogurt into the blender and made himself a smoothie. Harry came out of his room around the same time and sat at the counter. 

“Want some?” Peter asked him. 

“Oh yeah, I love your smoothies,” Harry responded. Peter smirked and poured Harry a glass. “What's your plans for the day?”

“I don't know,” Peter said. He did plan to go to the train station to finish up something he was making. “Maybe go take pictures of Spiderman or something,” Peter lied. 

“Of course, when don't you do that.” Harry rolled his eyes, but also slightly frowned. He had planned to lure Spiderman into a trap today, he didn't want Peter to fall into it either. “I'm going to head to my dad’s today,” Harry told Peter. That was obviously a lie. Maybe today he would just bide his time and set up a fully developed plan. “I'm heading out now. Thanks for the smoothie Peter, catch you later!” Peter waved him goodbye in response.

Once Harry actually left Peter went into his room. He didn't really want to do any Spiderman work today, but he packed his suit in his bag either way. Peter left out the front door and headed to the underground subway. He hasn't been here in nearly a week, that felt like forever for him. Turning on the light switch Peter quickly remembered how bad his arm hurt. He debated to take a painkiller but didn't, he gets hurt worse than this he can handle it. Once Peter started to get in the groove of working he could feel something tingling in the back of his neck. He sighed to himself knowing that he had to do Spiderman work. Peter annoyingly put on his suit and headed to where he sensed danger. 

He arrived at an unfinished building a few blocks away. Peter could tell it was coming from the basement. He entered through the third-floor window so he wouldn't be detected as fast. Sneaking through the room after room, going down the stairs. As far as he could tell there were no security systems in place. Peter could hear someone taking a few rooms down. The voice sounded mildly familiar but Peter couldn't tell whose voice. It was probably an old enemy of his. He figured out it was coming from the room at the end of the hall. Getting on the ceiling he headed down the hallway. The large steel doors have two small windows. Peter tried to look through them but they were too dirty to see through. The voices are what he had to rely on. Listening in he could hear what he assumed to be the leader telling his accomplices what to do. 

“Alright we will lead him to building A while everyone else is really at building B,” the voice explained. Peter knew he knew that voice from somewhere. Maybe it was someone he has battled before. He lightly dropped to the floor to slightly open up the door and see who it is. As he grabbed the handle it was pushed forward towards him. Peter shot up quickly up to the ceiling. The two men who walked through were grunt men of the Green Goblin. 

It didn't sound like the Green Goblin talking. This was going to bother Peter forever if he couldn't figure it out. Once the two men went into the other room Peter dropped down again to maybe get a view of who was talking. He gripped the door handle and opened it as little as he could. He browsed the room as well as he could through the tiny crack. Then he saw another person walking through a door across the room. Peter couldn't figure it out. Peter couldn't believe what his mind was trying to tell him. That the voice belonged to Harry. Why would Harry be here? Was he kidnapped? No, it didn't sound like he was in trouble. He was giving those men orders of god’s sake. Maybe he was being brainwashed from the Green Goblin. Maybe the Green Goblin knew he was Peter Parker and he targeted his best friend to go against him. Peter couldn't handle all these thoughts and quickly exited the building. He went up to a rooftop a few blocks down. 

Peter took a deep breath. He had to be overreacting, there was no way that was Harry. He said he was going to his dad's today. That was it, Peter thought. He'd stop by Oscorp and see if Harry is there. Peter rushed over there faster than need be. He almost forgot to change from his Spiderman suit. Entering in he was greeted by the front desk lady. 

“Has Harry come in today?” Peter asked her frantically.

“Not that I know of Mr. Parker,” she told him. 

“Is Mr. Osborn in? I'd like to talk to him,” Peter questioned her again. 

“Yes he is, I'll tell him you are coming up,” she said, starting to dial her phone. 

“Thank you,” Peter said in return and headed to the elevator. His foot was tapping as the elevator went up to the 35th floor. It made three other stops along the way and Peter nearly groaned audibly to each one. The doors opened for the floor and Peter rushed out into Mr.Osborn’s office.

“Nice to see you, Peter!” He exclaimed.

“Nice to see you too sir,” Peter replied, taking a seat. He wanted to flat out ask if Norman knew anything, but kept his mouth shut. 

“What can I do for you?” Norman questioned him.

Peter couldn't figure out what to say without sounding weird. “Has Harry been acting sort of strange to you?” Peter asked not too sure if that was the best way to ask.

“Harry?” Norman sounded confused. It took him a moment to respond fully. “No, I think he has been acting fine actually.” Norman started to think that maybe Peter was on to something he shouldn't be. “Why have you noticed anything?”

“Um,” Peter wasn't too sure he would respond. Maybe nothing was wrong and now he was just worrying about his friend’s father. “No,” Peter said next. “I just thought I'd ask. Maybe I've been drinking way too many energy drinks,” Peter laughed trying to lighten the moment. “Caffeine is making my paranoia go up.” Peter started to get up to leave out the door. “See you later Mr.Osborn.”

Before Peter could leave and Norman could speak again, Harry walked in. “Oh, hi Peter,” Harry said in surprisement. He was not expecting Peter to be at his dad’s office.

“Hey Harry, I was just leaving actually,” Peter quickly spoke and headed out the door Harry was holding. Peter guessed Harry did do what he said was going to so and he shouldn't just have assumed that guy was Harry. Except for Harry did show up after Peter saw him at the building. Peter frowned to himself and headed down the elevator. 

“I think he’s on to you,” Harry’s dad spoke to him as Harry sat down.

“No,” Harry immediately said back. There was no way Peter was on to him. “How could Peter know?”

“He said you were acting strange lately.”

“I'll just act a bit sick this week then.”

“Keep an eye on him, Harry. You know how his father was,” Norman reminded him. 

Harry just rolled his eyes. There was no way Peter could catch on. Unless he's seen some of Harry's injuries. Thinking back Harry couldn't recall any times Peter saw him. Maybe he does need to start being more careful around Peter.


	2. I knew you

After visiting Oscorp, Peter went down to the subways. Sneaking into a tunnel and heading the old abandoned lab his father used to have. Peter wasn’t sure what he should be doing right now. No way his best friend could be the green goblin, that just doesn’t line up. Except for it does, but Peter was not having it. Once he got to the lab he started working on a tracking device, maybe he could get the green goblin locked up for good. When he was focused Peter would easily lose track of time. He kept the news on a TV above his workspace he would glance at from time to time. 

Peter was almost finished when the Green Goblin started causing havoc. He felt like he didn’t have enough time and Peter quickly put on his suit and ran out there. The tracker wasn’t fully finished yet, but it had a chance of working. The Green Goblin was commanding his men to steal loads of money off some government trucks. “Hey, Mr. Goblin,” Spider-man greeted his enemy. He couldn’t let things be different.

“Ah, Spider-man, you always show up at the best of times,” Green Goblin replied as he darted towards Spider-man for an attack. Spider-man quickly shot a web to the nearest building to getaway. Then the Green Goblin threw a bomb towards him. Which Spider-man had to catch in his webs to prevent it from harming civilians. He had to get close to Green Goblin to plant the tracking device and not have him notice. Normally Spider-man would be throwing some quips, but right now he was more focused on the task at hand. 

Trying to think of a way, the Green Goblin once again rushed towards Spider-man for another attack. Spider-man went for his belt to grab the mini-tracking device, and let Green Goblin hit him. He was aiming for the upper back when placing it. If the suit Green Goblin was wearing that would be the best place to put it, Spider-man thought. Although some of his enemies did just turn into creatures he was pretty sure this was a suit. Harry looked normal as a human, so. This made himself frown under the mask.

“Wow, Spider-man, you normally put up some sort of fight. Today was your worst yet,” the Green Goblin let out a laugh. “My men are already done here. Enjoy your failure.” 

Spider-man watched him fly away. He has tried to follow Green Goblin before, but he’s good at disappearing. No one knows who he works for or what he does with the money he steals. Though at this point Spider-man has a few theories. Peter didn’t want to linger in this area and decided to head home. There he sat in his room for a long time. 

He was very scared to check his tracker. Harry had come home about three hours ago, and Peter has been in his room the whole time. The tracker should have come off whenever Harry removed the suit, so it should be wherever his base is at. Peter took the deepest breath when he opened the tracker locator. He wasn’t 100% done with it, so maybe it didn’t even work. He almost wanted that to happen. As the screen turned on it took a moment to load, which then zoomed onto this apartment. His spider senses when off, even though he told himself he was fine. The Green Goblin probably wasn’t watching him from his window, but sitting in his living room watching TV. 

Peter didn’t have much anxiety, you couldn’t when you were Spider-man. This situation was a lot for him, however. Also means, what Harry had was not a suit, but a part of him. Maybe he was being mind-controlled when he was the Green Goblin? That could be it, and would also mean he is safe. Harry and Peter were friends before the times of Spider-man and Green Goblin, and there was no way Harry was friends with him, just to eventually hurt him. Someone could know Peter is Spider-man, so they kidnapped and experimented on his best friend. No way his best friend was evil. 

It had been another hour pasted, and Peter finally left his room to get some water. “Oh hey, I wasn’t sure if you were here or not,” Harry immediately called from the living room. 

“Yeah, I was napping for a good while,” Peter told him, grabbing a drink.

“Want to watch some TV with me?” Harry asked.

“Oh, actually could I show you some pictures of Spider-man I took recently?” Peter suggested back to his friend. He could see how well Harry judges Spider-man.

Harry let out a deep sigh, “I mean not really, but sure.” He sat up from the couch. Peter went to his room to grab his digital camera and sat on the couch next to Harry. He loaded up his first picture.

“You do always get good shots. Do you go illegally into a building to get this high?” Harry asked him. 

“Ummm,” Peter started. “Sometimes.” 

Harry laughed, “Proud of you Pete.” Peter kept scrolling through. “I don’t know why you like him so much.”

“He just seems like a good guy,” Peter responded.

“And that’s why you sell his photos to The Bugle?” Harry laughed again. 

“I also have to make money,” Peter said back. “I’d love to interview him sometime.”

“People tend to avoid their stalkers. I’m sure he’s not too fond of you,” Harry replied. 

Peter couldn’t really argue that. He would probably be scared if there was an actual person following him around everywhere. “I’m sure he’d do something about me if he didn’t like me.” 

“Let’s hope he stays good then and doesn’t hurt you. I’d have to go fight him myself if he did that,” Harry said looking away from the camera. Peter also glanced away. 

“Yeah, let’s hope there is no fighting ever,” Peter said softly. 

“Just be careful out there. You’ve given yourself a dangerous job,” Harry reminded him. Peter could tell how much Harry cared. If he hated Spider-man and Peter, he wouldn’t be acting this caring. There was good inside him still.

“Sorry for taking up your TV time,” Peter said. “Thank you for the compliments earlier.”

Harry winced, “God, you’re too kind for your own good. I like spending time with you Peter, so I was happy to see your photos.” Peter smiled at him and Harry smiled back. Peter moved slightly down the couch and sat there to watch Harry’s show with him. He never understood these reality shows.

Peter had never told anyone he is Spider-man before. He didn’t want to start now, but the fact it had been two days later and he can barely handle seeing Harry, he had to talk to someone. Other than Harry, his best friend was Gwen. They even dated for 3 months, until Gwen broke up with him. Quickly they learned they were much better off friends than a couple. Which honestly Peter didn’t even mind, it was a lot to balance. So he sent her a text if they wanted to grab food and eat in the park. She responded she could after work at 4 pm today. 

So Peter walked to her work and waited outside for her. She was surprised to see him. “Oh, I thought we were going to meet up at the restaurant,” she said. 

“Sorry, I was bored so I just walked here, and figured we could walk together.”

She shook her head, “Peter you are something. Happy to see you though, it’s been a few weeks.”

“Yeah, I’ve been busy, and then you had that project you were working on.” Gwen works in a biology field and had a long study she was doing. She watched Peter as he walked and Gwen knew him well. Something was up.

“I assume you are going to tell me at the park your problem?” She asked.

“I’m a little too easy to read huh?” he replied with a frown. 

“You pace hardcore when you are stressed, so this seems like it’ll be a good one.” Gwen liked that Peter could talk to her and she was happy to talk to him. She was slightly worried about Peter, but he didn’t do much in his day to day so it couldn’t be that big of a problem. “I also have some fun news to tell you too,” she said.

“Oh okay,” Peter said back, he wasn’t too sure what she could tell him. Peter was going to end up dropping a ball, while Gwen probably had something minor. 

So after picking up some food, and heading to the park to sit at a bench they both stared at each other. Peter wanted it to be at the park so he could know if anyone was eavesdropping on him. 

“You get to go first Parker,” Gwen smirked at him. 

Peter took a deep breath, he did not want to go first. But he did want to tell someone so badly. “Well. First, it’s about me, then it’s about Harry. And there is like this big problem that could ruin our friendship, and… I’m worried for us, and I know he still cares about me, and… You probably aren’t going to believe me,” he was already out of breath by saying that all at once within a few seconds.

“Peter,” she started. “Okay, I’m glad you could tell me that, and I’m here to help because I have the same problem with MJ right now.” 

Peter stared at her with a blank face. She did not have the problem with MJ right now, there was no way. He wasn’t too sure what she was talking about. “What do you mean?”

She gave him a weird look. “You’re gay? And you don’t want to ruin your and Harry’s friendship?” Gwen asked.

Peter’s face had to have turned bright red. “What? No, no, no. Are you gay?”

“Yeah,” Gwen replied, still very confused. “I have a crush on MJ and I’ve been having trouble thinking about asking her out. What in the world is your problem then?”

“Huh,” he simply said. He was not expecting that one. Nor will Gwen be expecting his problem. “I, uh. It’s so hard to admit,” he took a deep breath. He had fought scary bad guys, yet this felt like the biggest punch in his life. “I’m Spider-man.”

“Oh boy,” she said. “You don’t mean that.”

“No, I am. You are the first person I’ve told,” he started and took another deep breath. “I wanted us to be at a park, so I could tell if anyone was eavesdropping. The pictures I take of Spider-man are ones I pose myself. Why I get a lot of pictures on a high building and whatnot.”

Gwen was quiet for a good minute and Peter expected as much. “Wait, if I’m the first person you told how does this affect Harry?” she asked in realization. “I honestly thought you and him would pose together. Like he wore the suit and you took a picture.”

Peter did not like the thought of Harry as Spider-man. “Well,” he started but quickly trailed off. He no longer felt safe in the park. This was one of the hardest things he’s ever done. “Can I take you somewhere else?”

“Of course,” she said with the exhaust in her voice. “I never thought I’d have this much excitement with you, Peter. You really threw some curveballs today.” 

“Oof, that hurts,” he said with a smirk. “Sorry, this will be a bit of a walk.” He took her to the subways and down some abandoned shafts to his secret lab. “This is my lab where I work on Spider-man tech. I know here I can at least talk freely with you.” 

Gwen looked all around, “You have some high tech stuff here. Well, if Spider-man needs an assistant, I’d love to help.” 

“Sadly, Spider-man can not afford to pay you a 100k salary,” he replied with a laugh. Gwen laughed as well.

“This has to be a tough job. Do you do it all by yourself?”

“Yeah,” he said softly. “This lab used to be my father’s. I found out about it in some of his old files left at Aunt May’s house. It was completely run down when I got here, but I’ve cleaned it up and have been using it for the past couple of years.”

“You should join one of those teams, like Fantastic Four or Avengers. You shouldn’t be doing stuff on your own. What if you get hurt badly?” Gwen asked in worry.

Peter didn’t make eye contact. “I like working alone. It feels safer. I haven’t gotten hurt badly yet, and don’t plan to.” 

“Peter… What does Harry have to do with this that you had to bring me to a secret underground lab to tell me?”

This part was hard. “Well… Spider-man has enemies. Right now, I’ve been fighting a lot of the Green Goblin. I think Harry is the Green Goblin, I know he is.” Peter took a glance at Gwen who looked like she was about to fume. “But!” he started quickly. “Harry is good, he doesn’t want to hurt me or Spider-man. I think he’s under mind control or something.”

Gwen stopped for a moment to think. “You really think he’s under mind control? How do you know it’s him?”

“He didn’t have his voice changer on once, and I felt like I knew that voice. I put a tracker on the Green Goblin… and he was in my apartment later that day,” he told her.

“Are you going to tell him you are worried he’s under mind control? If you actually think he’s good?” 

“No,” Peter responded straightly. “I don’t want to mess things up, or maybe he isn’t mind-controlled and something happens.” 

“I’d want you to tell me if you thought I was under mind control,” she told him. “Peter, this is a lot.” 

“Yes, and why I needed to tell someone badly. I’m going to try and help him without him finding out. I want to learn if he’s being controlled or it’s his own free will.” 

“Does he know you are Spider-man?” Gwen asked.

“I don’t think so, at least he hasn’t seemed to let on about that at all.”

“Harry is such an asshole,” Gwen said, shaking her head.

“He’s a nice asshole!” Peter rebutted and Gwen laughed.

“If anything happens Peter, I’m not sure what I’m going to do.”

“It’ll be okay,” he said going in for a hug. Peter rarely hugged people, but he was grateful for Gwen at this moment. She hugged him back. “Oh, and don’t tell anyone,” he quickly ended.

“Okay, don’t go telling my secret either,” she replied. Peter pushed that back in his mind that his friend was now a lesbian. It was an interesting thing he never once thought about. It made sense, however.

“Of course, I’m glad you could tell me that too. I hope it works out for you. You and MJ would be good together, you already spend most of the time together,” Peter said with a smile. 

“Well, I had just thought the same thing about you and Harry up until 30 minutes ago,” Gwen said bluntly. “But yeah maybe.”

Peter was already struggling to imagine Harry as his enemy. Thinking of him as… more than friends was almost just as crazy. He leads Gwen out of the subway system back to the normal part of New York. “Sorry for keeping you so long today.”

“It was a good talk. Probably the craziest day I’ve had in years,” she said. “I’m sure you’ve had crazier though.”

“Oh, it’s up there for me too,” he replied. They both said their goodbyes and went in different directions. It was a crazy day indeed. Crazy week. Peter still wasn’t sure what to do. He would have confronted Harry at some point. There was nothing Spider-man couldn’t handle, he used to think until now. Now he’s found his weakness, maybe family and friends were always the weakness. It hurt a lot.


	3. Chapter 3

Harry was not impressed by Spider-man’s fight. This was one of the first times he hit Spider-man without wearing him down first. It was almost suspicious, but maybe Spider-man was finally giving in. It mattered not, as Harry accomplished what he needed to do. He then traveled back to his father’s building and gave his report. 

“Has Peter still been acting strange?” Norman asked Harry.

“No, he hasn’t asked about anything. Like I said before, I’m pretty sure he doesn’t know,” Harry replied almost angrily. He hated how his father didn’t trust him, even though he made Harry do all his dirty work. 

“I worry about Spider-Man and how Peter spends a lot of time around him,” his father continued.

“They don’t talk to each other,” Harry told him. “Peter just weirdly follows him around.” 

“Yes, it is weird indeed. You should look into it,” his father suggested to him.

Harry thought this all was nonsense. He would be able to tell if his best friend has a secret identity. Though the irony hit him hard after he thought for a moment. That would hurt if Peter was Spider-Man and they had been fighting all this time. 

“You are dismissed Harry,” his father interrupted his thoughts. Harry didn’t reply. He got up and walked back to his apartment. Thinking about it, he could follow Peter one day to see how he takes pictures of Spider-Man. That seemed creepy though, he trusted Peter, there was no way he was spending his days beating up people and throwing them in jail. Peter was soft.

When Harry arrived home, he looked around the apartment to see if Peter was home. Peter’s door was closed, which could either mean he is sleeping or wasn’t there. He always had his door closed, Harry was nice, he wasn’t going to snoop. Despite wanting too. So he turned on the TV and started watching some shows. At some point, Peter did leave his room. Harry quickly perked up. 

Harry said hi to him, and then Peter asked if he could show Harry the pictures of Spider-Man he had taken. That wasn’t one of Harry’s interests, but he’d do it for Peter. So they browsed through them, and they were good pictures. It was honestly impressive how Peter would get them. Afterward, Peter watched some TV with Harry. Harry couldn’t make the connection between Peter to Spider-Man. That would ruin everything. 

Times like these Harry probably could sneak over to Peter and lean on him. It felt wrong at this moment though, like they could both tell something was off. Harry didn’t feel many emotions, especially sadness, but right now he felt it. Maybe even a hint of guilt, but that pushed way down. After a few hours, it was late and both decided to go to bed. When Harry got into his room, he took off his shirt. Then he noticed something fall to the ground. It was something mechanical. He held it close to his face to examine it.

“No,” he whispered out loud. It was a tracker, no doubt about that. A very rushed one. Quickly, he crushed it in his hand making sure there was no way for it to work again. This had to be Spider-mans and must have been why he didn’t put up much of a fight today. Harry had it on long enough, Spider-man had to know his location. “God damn it,” he said quite loudly. Did this mean Spider-Man was going to show up here at some point? Was Peter showing him pictures of Spider-Man to warn him maybe? 

Harry couldn’t sleep now or let alone be here. Peter was safe here, Harry thought. Unless Spider-man thought that was his accomplice, they did live together. This was probably one of the trickiest situations Harry had been in. He debated leaving a note on his bed telling Spider-Man not to harm Peter and that he had left. Spider-Man isn’t the type to severely hurt others, Peter was safe if he did come, he would only trap Peter in his webs. Harry nodded to himself. 

Packing a suitcase full of extra clothes, Harry left the apartment and headed to his dad’s office building. It wasn’t the nicest place, but Harry could tell his dad he’s doing research. He could never let his father know what happened. 

Peter heard the front door close and was slightly confused about where Harry was going this late. He winced as he checked the tracker to find it as static. Harry must have found out about it and is now probably going somewhere. Peter debated the chances of Harry knowing he was Spider-Man. It could be very obvious, but maybe it was hard to tell. Peter could never tell his best friend had a secret identity. 

Peter debated following Harry, though he didn’t want to get caught or fight him. This was one of the hardest things for Peter to go through. There was the option of talking about it. Maybe Harry was informing his leader that he was being tracked. 

Harry went to the Oscorp building and headed to his lab. He was allowed to work on new gadgets even though it wasn’t his main thing. Also, he could work on setting up a plan for their newest heist. Just a few more items for his father's plan. Not that Harry knew what that was, he wasn’t told anything but getting the items. In his lab, there was a small prison-like bed. It had been a long time since he slept here. 

Harry wondered about Peter and what his plans were. He must have heard Harry leave. Maybe he could text Peter at some point. Or do what Harry does best and just ignore it all. Just focus on his work for the time being.

It had been three days since Harry left the apartment. Peter wasn’t too sure what to do. This was the longest amount of time he spent in the apartment, however. Maybe he was subconsciously hoping and waiting for Harry to come home. He should really just talk to Harry and learn what’s happening. Peter was willing to help him if need be. No way Harry could be evil.

He could just text Harry asking when he was coming back, but something held Peter back. Maybe he was scared of the truth and would lose his best friend in the process. Along with potentially causing a huge fight.

There have been no green goblin attacks lately. Spider-Man has done some minor work, however. No way Peter could go 24 hours without being Spider-Man. Though he was putting in less effort this past couple of days. His phone buzzed and Peter jumped. Could that be Harry? It took Peter nearly a minute to grab his phone out of his pocket to check it. The message was from Gwen. 

_ Are you busy this Saturday at 5 pm? _

_ No why? _

_ I want to hang out! You, me, MJ, and Harry! _

Peter debated how to text her. This would be a good excuse to text him. She replied again. 

_ Could we come to your apartment and have pizza and drinks?  _

_ Sure, Harry might be busy though. He’s been spending a lot of time at his dad’s.  _

_ Aw :( well I suppose you alone is good enough. See you then!  _

Peter was slightly confused as to why Gwen wanted Harry to also be there. They weren’t close friends or anything, they could handle a conversation or two but not much more than that. Oh well, maybe this would help take his mind off everything. At least he hoped so. 

He held his phone in his hand and opened his text conversation with Harry. The last messages were just some memes they sent each other. Peter laughed a bit at them as it had been a while since he looked at them. Though he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t send the text. 

* * *

Harry was getting annoyed with how his father kept questioning why he was spending time at the lab. Maybe being home with Peter and a Spider-Man threat would be nicer than his. He hated his father. It was now his 4th day at the lab and he was getting sick of it. Like a miracle, his phone buzzed. Harry grabbed it quickly, weirdly hoping for Peter. The message was from Gwen. They haven’t texted in nearly a year. 

_ Hey Harry! It’s Gwen. Peter, MJ, and I are coming over to your apartment tomorrow at 5 pm for a pizza party. I don’t know if Peter told you, but I figured I’d check-in as well.  _

There was a lot to this message. Harry was excited for a slight second and then immediately distrusted it. Could this be a setup? Why would she text him and not Peter? He was also annoyed Peter didn’t text him. Not that Harry made any effort to text Peter. This did make him question this situation though.

Harry wanted to reply fast so he thought hard. What were the pros of going? He could get out of this hell hole and see his friends. Cons of going? There was no way they could get him for being the green goblin. What was Spider-Mans proof? He once had a tracker go off there? Maybe it fell on Harry? In reality, Harry was just sick of how things were. Might as well go, the chances of suffering are low. 

_ Hey! Thanks for the info, I will be there.  _

Harry then debated when he should go home. The party was tomorrow so he could go home now and shower. He hadn’t showered in the past 4 days since the showers here sucked. It was a bad excuse to be gross, but he was alone so it didn’t matter. Though it would be a full 24 hours at home with Peter. Maybe it was best to go tomorrow, so if anything bad was going to happen it would be done fast. 

* * *

It was about two hours before the pizza party and Peter was waiting on the couch watching TV. There was a hint of the guilt of not inviting Harry. Also sadness of not seeing his friend for 5 whole days. That’s probably the longest they haven’t seen each other since they were teenagers. 

That was when he heard the front door unlock and someone walks in. Peter jumped to his feet and faced the door ready. 

“Oh, sorry for scaring you. I’ve never seen you move that fast,” a familiar voice said to him. 

“Harry,” was all Peter said in response. Harry moves his suitcase into the apartment and closed the door. Both stood there awkwardly for nearly a minute. 

“Gwen texted me, there’s a pizza party here at 5 pm?” Harry asked Peter.

“Uh, yeah, yeah,” Peter replied. Gwen directly invited him? That surprised Peter. She did know Peter well so maybe she sensed something. 

Again, both of them stood there without knowing what to do. Harry simply nodded and headed to his room. Peter sat back on the couch and waited for the time to pass. Harry looked a bit like a mess. Peter would be lying if he wasn’t super happy having his friend back in the apartment. Maybe he could forget everything bad about this party and enjoy it. 

Harry then got into the shower. Peter felt more comfortable than he’d like to admit. It was like everything was normal. Even though it was far from and Harry was still the bad guy here. Maybe after the party, they could talk or something. He took a deep breath. The shower lasted a good while, Peter didn’t know if Harry showered wherever he went. 

Once Harry was done and got redressed he walked into the living room where Peter was. Again neither too sure what to say. 

“I uh, was at my dad’s for a while. I wanted to work in the lab and he also needed some help. So lost track of time,” Harry explained. 

Peter nodded. Did Green Goblin work for Norman? Maybe it was a lie, Peter was unsure at this point. “I’ve just been at home mostly,” Peter told him. He wanted to add more to that but couldn’t think of anything. Harry then sat on the couch, on the opposite side of him. Peter was nervous. “Harry, I-,” Peter started, did he want to bring up the conversation now? 

Peters’s phone buzzed. “Gwen said she’s on her way with Pizza and drinks.” 

“What kind of drinks?” Harry asked. 

“Knowing Gwen,” Peter laughed. “Probably something alcoholic.”

“Ah that sounds good,” Harry laid back on the couch to relax. “Are you going to drink?” 

“No,” Peter replied. Peter wasn’t too fond of drinking. His spidey sense went a little too wild when under the influence, he did not like it.

“At least I’ve gotten you drunk once before, so I’m satisfied,” Harry said with a slight laugh. “Sorry, you hated it though.” 

“It was fun,” Peter remembered. They just laughed a lot, and a bit cuddly, but Peter ignored that fact a lot. Then his spidey sense started going off and he more or less had a panic attack. 

Then their apartment door buzzed and Harry got up to let Gwen and MJ in. They all said hello to one another. Gwen complimented how Harry smelt and Peter laughed. MJ was holding the pizzas and placed them on the counter. Gwen then had two paper bags and quickly she set them down and started digging in them. 

Gwen pulled out a case of pre-made shots. “Who’s taking one with me?” She asked the group. MJ raised her hand and Gwen handed her one. 

“Yes please,” Harry said quite excitedly. He was ready to get fucked up if he could. If things were to go poorly he would rather be drunk at this point. 

Gwen then looked at Peter, who shook his head. “Two for me then,” she said smiling. 

“You got two for me?” Harry called to her. 

“Yes, I do.” She handed Harry a second one. Peter was unsure of this situation if two of his friends got drunk. At least MJ was taking it responsibly. Gwen then pulled out some artisan beers for everyone. Then they opened up the pizzas and started digging in. 

“So,” Gwen started to speak up in between bites. “I gathered you all here today let you know,” she looked over to MJ. “MJ and I are dating!” 

Peter let out a “Woah oh my god,” with a mouth full of pizza. Even though he somewhat expected it, he didn’t expect it. 

“Nice,” Harry dragged out with a large smile on his face. “Happy for you guys.” 

“Yes, Gwen wanted to share with you guys ASAP,” MJ told them. 

“Man I wish had known this was a double date. I would have worn Peter’s favorite shirt,” Harry jokes taking another sip of his drink. This wasn’t the first time Harry had made a joke of them dating, but every time threw Peter off. When he started drinking that’s when it cames out. 

“Are you dating?” Gwen raised an eyebrow. Peter was red in the face just trying to eat his pizza. 

“No, no,” Harry replied. “I love that reaction though,” he laughed looking at Peter. “I’m pretty sure he doesn’t do relationships.” 

“I dated Gwen for three months,” Peter felt the need to remind the group. 

“And that’s when I realized I like women,” Gwen muttered into her cup. Harry and MJ laughed. 

“Aww Peter, I’m sure you’ll find someone good,” MJ tried to reassure him. Peter was not having this conversation. 

“What about you Harry? You must have a nice harem of women after you,” Gwen joked with him. It was no lie Harry was the poster child of Oscorp Inc. 

“Oh of course,” he dragged out the sarcasm. Peter and Gwen both had a slight cringing face at the thought. “No, I don’t have anyone at the moment. But I’ll get what I want, and I’ll get my man eventually.” 

“Ooo, who’s the lucky man?” Gwen teased him. 

“I’ve already spoken too much,” Harry said taking another drink to hid his face. 

Peter was almost done with his two pizza slices and contemplating life and everything he knew. Sure he didn’t know his best friend was his enemy, but he didn’t even know both of his best friends were gay? Maybe Harry was bi, Peter didn’t know. Was Peter gay along with all his friends? He hadn’t seen Harry in nearly a week and he came back as nothing changed. Maybe it didn’t change, maybe to Harry, he is just hanging out with his friends. Today was going to take some mental processing, that’s for sure. 

The crew finished up their pizzas and Gwen ordered an Uber for her and MJ. 

“This was good,” Gwen stated.

“Yes, it was,” Peter replied. It was a lot, but he couldn’t deny he had fun. They were all laughing at points and enjoying life. This moment would be Peters’s ideal world. Being Spider-Man was nice and all, but just being a normal person spending time with friends was great. 

“Hey Gwen, could I get one more of those beers? I can pay you back for it if you’d like. Since I drank the most of them, ” Harry asked. He knew damn well everyone was probably judging him for drinking the most but he needed it. “I’ll start cleaning up as well,” he said trying his best to seem sober. 

Gwen laughed, “Thank you Harry, but it’s okay. My treat.” She gave him a wink. Then her phone pinged, most likely for the Uber. “Oh Peter, can you come outside with us?” Gwen asked him. 

Peter was unsure why she wanted him to come outside with them, but he agreed nonetheless. They walked out to the front of the building and Gwen asked MJ if she could speak to peter alone. MJ nodded. 

“Harry has a crush on you,” Gwen flatly told Peter as MJ walked out of earshot. 

“Why would you say that?” Peter was confused. 

“He just came out as gay Peter. It’s obvious,” she told him. 

Peter took a very deep sigh, “Gwen this is so confusing.”

“You need to talk to him about all of this.” 

“I don’t know if I can…” Peter muttered.

“You have too. You can’t keep ignoring this and thinking it will fix itself. You need to tell him the truth,” she told him. Peter knew she cared. And he knew she was right. Another sigh left him. “I believe in you. If you need me, I’m here. You’ll make it through Peter,” she tried to reassure him. 

“Thank you, Gwen,” he said softly. He wanted to hug her, and he knew MJ probably wouldn’t care, but he held himself instead. 

The Uber arrived and they waved goodbye. Peter headed back to the apartment. Harry was cleaning up, and Peter felt bad he left that to Harry. “What did Gwen want to talk to you about?” 

“Oh nothing,” Peter replies standing awkwardly near Harry. Harry slowly stopped what he was doing and looked at Peter confused. Peter did what he had never done in his life, but he hugged Harry. He needed comfort, and if Harry was the person who could give it to him, Peter would take it for this moment. 

Harry was very confused about the situation. He put his arms around Peter and held him. Peter had a strong grip. Harry’s mind wasn’t at 100% at the moment and was unsure what this hug was for. He wasn’t going to make any moves. 

Peter held on for a few more seconds taking in the last hug he would ever get from Harry. He had to confess soon, and he wanted one last happy moment before it happened. The let go was rushed as Peter came back to full senses. “Sorry,” he muttered quietly. “Thank you.” 

“You don’t…. need to say thank you,” Harry replies softly back. “Or sorry.” Harry was quiet for a moment. “That was nice, you should do that more often,” he started up a smile at the end there. 

Peter did his usual embarrassed look. Gwen was probably right. Peter didn’t understand the situation he was in at all. His best friend loved him, his best friend wanted to hurt him. He wondered at the end which one Harry would choose. Peter promised himself he would do whatever he could to protect Harry. If he wanted to be protected that is. 

Peter then helped Harry pick up some of the garbage and fill the dishwasher. He could tell Harry had more to drink than his body could handle. It kept looming over Peter this was the end even though it wasn't. He wondered if Harry felt the same. 

Harry hasn’t let the hug left his mind. 

Being drunk didn’t help, he just wanted to hug Peter more right now. Most days he ignored his feelings, but in this situation, he was being real with himself. He really did like his best friend, maybe too much. It baffles Harry to truly admit that, even though he’s always known. His head started to pound.

They finished cleaning. Peter looked around trying to think of what to do next. Talk to Harry? Maybe he should wait till he’s sober. Peter frowned, it was a bit early to try and say good night. 

Harry however was sick of standing and laid down on the couch. He wanted to talk to Peter, but his eye closed. This night he was going to be happy. If Spider-Man wanted to come to arrest him tonight, then at least it was a good night. But he seemed safe. 

Peter watched his friend for about 10 minutes before deciding Harry was actually asleep. Right now Harry was harmless. He tried to think of ways to confess to Harry. Maybe he could ask if Harry is the green goblin and still try to hide the fact he’s Spider-Man. But he knew he should be honest too. Peter sighed and ran his hands through his hair. 


End file.
